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Zaius (APJ)
Doctor Zaius was an orangutan leading member of the Ape National Assembly, Minister of Science and also Chief Defender of the Faith. Biography Early life Zaius was a statesman who lived in Ape City during the latter half of the 40th century. He was a leading member of the Ape National Assembly, and served a dual role in ape society as Minister of Science in charge of advancing ape knowledge and also as Chief Defender of the Faith. He saw no contradiction between his two roles but in the end he chose to emphasize the blind faith of the ape religion and traditions over the scientific suggestions of the chimpanzees, preferring a stagnant, imperfect, faith-based ape culture that kept humans in check, to the open, scientific, human-curious one proposed by Cornelius and Zira's generation. Defender of the Faith An ape of renowned piety, Zaius believed that the tenets of religion, and the theories of science worked interchangeably with one another without compromise. He was often found quoting from the Articles of Faith as set down by the Lawgiver, and documented in the Sacred Scrolls. Zaius was quick to point out that those who sought to counter sacred scripture were committing acts of scientific heresy – a crime that yielded severe consequences. Coming of Taylor For all of his bluster however, Zaius was the keeper of a great secret. He was one of the few apes who knew the true origins of simian culture, as well as that of humans. While the Sacred Scrolls established the edict that apes evolved from man, Zaius knew that apes were once in fact subservient to man, and man actually evolved from apes, and that humanity had created a "paradise" for themselves and destroyed it as well. Zaius knew what humans had once been and for fear of humans ever becoming strong enough to threaten the world again, he was determined that the great secret should stay just that, while the idea of an intelligent human (such as Taylor) threatening the balance of things frightened him deeply. Knowing the destruction that humanity (with the aid of technology) caused in its downfall, he didn't want even the possibility of a human resurgence. To end any doubts planted in the minds of apes and humans, Taylor had to be killed. At the end of Planet of the Apes, ambushed and held hostage by Taylor, Zaius agreed to let him go if he never returned to Ape City. However, Zaius then had Cornelius's archaeological findings (human artifacts, predating the Ape society) destroyed, and Cornelius and Zira arrested on heresy charges. Journey to the Forbidden Zone By Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Cornelius recalled how Zaius brought them to trial, but then moved for clemency on their behalf. When Zaius, haunted by the experience with Taylor, supported gorilla General Ursus in his crusade into the Forbidden Zone to wipe out the last remnants of mankind and claim the area for ape colonisation, he trusted Cornelius and Zira to continue his work. (In the novelization of Beneath, they instead began a revolt, once the gorilla army was gone.) Zaius met Taylor once more, in a showdown between the gorillas and a mutant human race living underground in the Zone. Taylor was trying to keep the mutant humans from activating a doomsday bomb, and was shot several times in the process by gorilla troops. Wounded and dying, Taylor begged Zaius to help him stop the bomb; when Zaius refused (declaring "Man is evil - capable of nothing but destruction!"). Taylor called Zaius a fool and while dying deliberately activated the bomb in his last moments, ironically realizing Zaius's worst fears, and the Earth was destroyed. Legacy Zaius was without a doubt killed in the earth's destruction along with the other apes. During Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Cornelius related how he learned the truth about humans and apes from reading secret scrolls. Cornelius presumably had access to these while working for Dr. Zaius (or after his departure), or perhaps was granted access by Zaius as a consolation for the loss of his archaeological work. In the comics *Zaius had more of his backstory explored in Malibu Graphics' Planet of the Apes: Sins of the Father, in which the truth about man's heritage was revealed to a young Zaius by his father Dr Augustus, Minister of Science; while in Within the Planet of the Apes Zaius had to prevent Dr Garvon from revealing that secret to ape society. In UbiSoft/Fox Interactive’s Planet of the Apes game for the Nintendo Game Boy, Dr. Zaius asks astronaut Ben to return to the underground mutant city to disarm the doomsday bomb they plan to use. ]] *BOOM! Studios' series ''Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes, Exile on the Planet of the Apes and Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm covered the period before the first movie, with Zaius as one of the central characters. Here, Zaius became a member of the ape council alongside more senior members Councilor Quintessa and Councilor Tenebris. When Zaius began to learn about human history, Tenebris abducted him and took him to a human building, where he explained to him the necessity of keeping the great secret. Tenebris had Quintessa murdered before himself being assassinated. Zaius was then joined by Councilor Camila and Councilor Hadrias by the time he led an assault on the renegade General Aleron. At the time the Moon was destroyed by extremist mutants, Zaius' wife Siena was badly injured and their daughter Valentina died during childbirth. Zaius struggled to rebuild Ape City in the aftermath of the catastrophe, and though he seemed to ultimately succeed, Siena was murdered by a chimp supremacist. *In the 2011 novel Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes, set during the events of Planet of the Apes, Zaius struggled with the burdens of keeping dangerous information from his people, which meant disposing of his old mentor Zao, who had been Minister of Science during the thirty-year interval between Augustus and Zaius. Here, his late wife was named Ambrosine and their grown-up children lived far away. He planned to frame Dr. Galen as the creator of the speaking human monsters Landon and Taylor, but after Galen's death he personally operated on Landon to permanently silence him. Short Story *The short story Endangered Species, written by Greg Cox for the anthology Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone, identifies Minister Zorba as the father of Augustus and grandfather of Zaius.'Endangered Species', by Greg Cox - Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone (2017) *The short story Of Monsters and Men, written by Kevin J. Anderson & Sam Knight for the same anthology, features Zaius as young apprentice to Doctor Tullius, the Defender of the Faith. Zaius is in a relationship with another student named Karah.'Of Monsters and Men', by Kevin J. Anderson & Sam Knight - Planet of the Apes: Tales from the Forbidden Zone (2017) Notes * Dr. Zaius was the main antagonist in the original 1968 Planet of the Apes and reappeared in Beneath the Planet of the Apes as a supporting antagonist. * Zaius was based on the character Mi Zaïus from the original novel, La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. * See also: Zaius for a complete list of other articles that share this name. * This version of Dr. Zaius is exclusive to the continuity of the Arthur P. Jacobs films and their adaptations. * The role of Dr. Zaius was originally to be played by Edward G. Robinson, and indeed he portrayed Zaius in the 1966 screen-test alongside Charlton Heston, Linda Harrison and James Brolin. With two big name actors to attract investors, the test showed the more advanced ape society of Boulle's book but this proved unworkable. Robinson backed out around April 1967, weeks before filming began, when he realised he would be unable to endure the make-up process every day. His place was taken by Maurice Evans who created arguably the most iconic of the characters from the Apes series. * Apprentice makeup artist Ken Chase was assigned to transform Maurice Evans into 'Dr. Zaius'.'Makeup Magazine - John Chambers Tribute' (1997) He took over that makeup role from Maurice Stein early in production.[http://pota.goatley.com/scrolls/simianscrolls_15.pdf Looking Back with Maurice Stein], by Dean Preston - 'Simian Scrolls' #15 (2008) * Jack Barron also worked on Evans' 'Zaius' makeup on the original Apes movie.'Makeup Artist Magazine' * There were particular problems with the movement of Maurice Evans’ orangutan mouth appliance, and most of his filmed dialogue had to be 'looped': re-dubbed later in the studio as the actor viewed film of himself to match the pace of his own words. * Along with Kolp, Dr. Zaius is one of only two villains to appear in more than one Arthur P. Jacobs era Planet of the Apes film. Trivia * A humorous version of Dr. Zaius was featured in the 7th season episode of The Simpsons entitled "A Fish Called Selma". Zaius was one of many pastiche characters who appeared in a musical stage production of Planet of the Apes. A Dr. Zaius tribute song featured in the episode is sung to the tune of "Rock Me Amadeus", originally by pop-star Falco. Another song was where the musical lampooned the well-known infamous ending with a song called "You'll Never Make a Monkey out of Me", in which the Statue of Liberty appears, causing Troy McClure to sing "Oh my God, I was wrong, it was Earth all along", then speaks "I love you, Dr. Zaius". The spoof was featured in a 1998 documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes hosted by Roddy McDowall as an example of the Ape franchise's popularity. * The March, 1973 edition of Mad Magazine lampooned the Planet of the Apes franchise in issue #157. The character Dr. Zaius was re-named Dr. Zaydius. * In Reality Bites, TV producer Michael Grates (Ben Stiller) keeps a statuette of Dr. Zaius in his office, which Lelaina (Winona Ryder) damages during a visit. * In the Seinfeld episode "The Reverse Peephole", as Elaine and Puddy (who is wearing a large fur coat) enter Joe Mayo's apartment, Elaine introduces Puddy with the words "I think you know Dr. Zaius." She later throws the coat out a window saying, "Goodbye, Dr. Zaius." * The engineering security network at Boston University is named Zaius after Dr. Zaius. The Zaius security system is the "defender of all things engineering." * In the 1997 cult classic Rocketman, astronaut Fred Z. Randall refers affectionately to Ulysses, the chimpanzee who accompanies the crew to Mars, as "Little Doctor Zaius." * In a segment of the February 14, 2008 episode of Late Show with David Letterman, Lyle the Intern says to David Letterman, "Your loss, Dr. Zaius." * The character, Maurice in the 2011 Planet of the Apes reboot film ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'', was named in honor of Doctor Zaius' actor, Maurice Evans. Appearances * * * Beneath the Planet of the Apes (comic) * Beneath the Planet of the Apes (novel) * Planet of the Apes (Power Records) * Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Power Records) * Planet of the Apes Magazine: Planet of the Apes (beginning with issue #2) * Planet of the Apes Magazine: Beneath the Planet of the Apes * Adventures on the Planet of the Apes: Planet of the Apes (beginning with issue #2) * Adventures on the Planet of the Apes: Beneath the Planet of the Apes * Sins Planet of the Apes: Sins Of The Father * UbiSoft/Fox Interactive’s 'Planet Of The Apes' GameBoy * Neil Foster & Michael Whitty's Within The Planet Of The Apes (fan fiction) * Revolution on the Planet of the Apes: People News * Revolution on the Planet of the Apes: Catch A Falling Star * Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes * Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes * Exile on the Planet of the Apes * Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm * Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive Edward RobinsonZaius.jpg|''Edward G. Robinson as Dr. Zaius'' zaiusgold.jpg|''Dr. Zaius in Gold Key's 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes'; illustration by Alberto Giolitti'' zaiuspower.jpg|''Dr. Zaius in Power Records' 'Planet of the Apes' illustration by Arvid Knudsen and Associates'' zaiusmarvel.jpg|''Dr. Zaius in Marvel's 'Adventures on the Planet of the Apes'; illustration by George Tuska, Michael Esposito & George Roussos'' zaiusadventure.jpg|''Young Zaius in Malibu Graphics' 'Sins Of The Father'; illustration by Mitch Byrd'' zaiusgameboy.jpg|''Dr. Zaius in UbiSoft's 'Planet of the Apes' GameBoy'' zaiuswithin.jpg|''Dr. Zaius in Foster & Whitty's 'Within The Planet of the Apes'; illustration by Neil Foster'' zaiusmr.jpg|''Dr. Zaius in MR Comics' 'People News'; illustration by Gabriel Morrissette & Bernie Mireault'' External Links *''Zaius'' at Memory Beta * References Category:APJ Characters Category:Marvel Characters Category:Orangutans Category:Deceased Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Malibu Characters Category:MR Characters Category:Villains Category:Antagonists Category:BOOM! Studios Characters Category:APJ Category:Characters Category:Deceased Apes Category:Comic Characters Category:NECA Figurines Category:Orangutans (comics) Category:Orangutans APJ